World Watching

"Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe.
But maybe, by raising my voice, I can help in the greatest of all causes
-- goodwill among men and peace on earth." A. Einstein

Saturday, June 07, 2003

Oh Jesus!

Talks between the Palestinian Authority and the terrorist group Hamas continue. In response to Hamas' hasty decision to end cease-fire talks, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said, "We either reach a voluntary cease-fire ... or there will be no deal with Israel or road map. Our friends in Hamas and Jihad should acknowledge this and act responsibly."

Our friends??!?!? What??? What the hell??? So they admit to being friends with terrorists?! Laura is the right idiom "my blood is boiling"?

Friday, June 06, 2003

A quote and a history lesson

Article from the BBC got a quote from a Hamas militant stating, "These attacks will continue in all the territories of 1948 and 1967, and we will not stop attacking the Zionist Jewish people as long as any of them remain in our land."

Let me dissect what he is saying. First of all, he states attacks will continue on all territories from 1948 and 1967. Translation: He believes that all of Israel is Palestinian land. That's what he means by "territories from 1948". Israel came into existence that year. In 1967, the West Bank and Gaza Strip came under Israeli control. Now this raises a good point and while I am on the topic let me quickly comment about what it means that Israel controls those territories. So if you don't already know, ask yourself this: who controlled or occupied the territories before they came under Israel's control? I mean, from 1948-1967 is almost 20 years and there was no Palestinian state formed so someone else must have been governing the regions. Hmm... give up? Well, the West Bank was controlled by Jordan and the Gaza Strip was controlled by Egypt. Now I don't know much about politics (and I am damn proud of that) but how come the Palestinians were too scared to speak out then for their own country? I mean, they could have tried to break free from the occupation of Jordan and Egypt. Or more than that, by population Jordan is mostly "Palestinian" and so how come Jordan isn't the Palestinian state? Now you might be thinking that perhaps they didn't break free because life was good for them then and it suddenly got horrific when Israel stepped in to take over. So what exactly happened in 1967 to cause "The Six Day War" that ended with Israel occupying these territories. In attempts to be as factual as possible I did a little research. What I found was not only horrifying, but makes me even more pissed about the current situation. So here it goes:

The Six Day War

What led up to the war? Syria was using the region of the Golan Heights to attack Israeli kibbutzim in the north. Also, in the preceding years, Arab attacks on Israel grew more frequent. In May of 1967 Egyptian troops moved into the Sinai nearing the Israeli border. The UN Emergency Force that was stationed there was commanded to leave and following this the Voice of the Arabs proclaimed:
"As of today, there no longer exists an international emergency force to protect Israel. We shall exercise patience no more. We shall not complain any more to the UN about Israel. The sole method we shall apply against Israel is total war, which will result in the extermination of Zionist existence."

Shortly following, Syrian Defense Minister Hafez Assad issued the following statement:
"Our forces are now entirely ready not only to repulse the aggression, but to initiate the act of liberation itself, and to explode the Zionist presence in the Arab homeland. The Syrian army, with its finger on the trigger, is united....I, as a military man, believe that the time has come to enter into a battle of annihilation."

Egypt then closed the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli shipping and all ships bound for Eilat. This blockade cut off Israel's only supply route with Asia and stopped the flow of oil from its main supplier, Iran. The president of Iraq joined in by saying, "The existence of Israel is an error which must be rectified. This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear -- to wipe Israel off the map." So the countries that were ready to fight Israel and formed an alliance to do so were Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon and the support supposedly of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, and Sudan. The Arab nations mobilized their armies and were ready to fight. Of course the US tried to work this out diplomatically but the Arab nations wouldn't hear of it. They wanted to fight. Even still, President Johnson made it clear to Israel that if they go into war they are on their own. He even imposed an arms embargo on Israel. Meanwhile, the Arab nations were obtaining supplies from (you guessed it) Russia. Israel technically attacked first but it was probably why they were able to win the war by doing the surprise attack. The war was over in 6 days and Israel won it. Without the help of anyone. If you don't believe in God, I think this almost proves there is one...and that the Jews are the chosen people. But that is for another time.

Altogether, Israeli forces captured the Sinai, Golan Heights, Gaza Strip and West Bank and unified Jerusalem. So this is how Israel ended up with these territories which I can safely say is the bane of Her existence. We need to wipe our hands clean of the territories. The question that remains is how to do this.

I went on a slight tangent there. My whole point was to explain the Hamas quote. With the mentality of these militants how do we expect to reach peace? If all of the Hamas people feel the way this one does (which I'm sure the vast vast majority do) no compromise can be reached that involves the existence of Israel.

Point two about the quote, he says attacks will not stop on Zionist Jews. Hmm....sounds like quite an anti-semitic statement to me. He will target Jews. How can that be argued as anything but anti-semitic? Oh what, because the Jews happen to exist in "their" land makes the killing of them ok? Is that the argument people try and make. He could just have easily said that he wants to kill anyone who is in "his" country but he chose to phrase it as the Zionist Jews.

And when he says "in our land" he is referring to all of Israel.

I expect their new Prime Minister to go to civil war with these savage monsters and rid the area of them. Once that happens, we can continue talking peace. Until then, I will not think for a moment that the Palestinian Authority is serious about peace. Until the vermon that is murdering innocent Jewish men, women and children is out of the picture I will not believe anything the PA says. For many years, Yassir Arafat gave the world lip service saying that he was taking action on stopping the terrorism (when any intelligent person could see he was actually supporting it) and I will not pay attention to more futile yapping from a new guy if he does NOTHING to back up his statements. I will give this guy a chance. He already seems a lot more normal than Yassir "pigeon face" Arafat and that already is a start.

Hamas won't work towards peace. Are you shocked? I certainly am not.
From the AP, "Rantisi, a Hamas leader and hard-liner, told reporters Friday that efforts to reach a truce were off. He said Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, made too many concessions at a summit Wednesday in Jordan."

Thursday, June 05, 2003

Did anyone hear Howard Stern this morning? Goodness... Those that know me know that Howard Stern is part of my morning routine. I don't listen to the whole show every day (I don't have the time nor the patience) but I do listen to him as I get ready for school or nowadays, on my ride into work. If he's not interviewing a pornstar, he can be really entertaining. Today, I could not stop laughing as he sang songs that he came up with on the spot about terrorism. It was extremely hilarious! It's one of those, you had to hear it type deals. Regardless of how crude he can be, I think he's quite intelligent and very entertaining. Arty, his other sidekick (aside from Robin), is also insanely funny! He's only on the air for another about 2.5 years so tune in!

Wednesday, June 04, 2003

I am on a mission to get rid of those advertisements that are pro-Palestinian. I don't understand how they got there. So I am aware that the advertisements kind of relate to what topics I cover so let's see if I can't trick it putting something else up there.
hmm...

I don't know how I left out one of the most important people during my search for the beauty in the world. In a previous entry I had stated that there are only 3 people in this world that I trust 100% and know will be there unconditionally for me. 2 of them are my parents and the third is my brother.

My brother Amir is 25. Since he is older than me, by default I have known him my whole life. And my whole life he has been a savior to me. No matter what, why, or when I should need him he was there to save my ass. Even though we bicker a lot (and I think he thinks I'm insane) I love him a whole lot. He's a great brother, the best. I don't know if he feels the same way about me (he thinks I'm a selfish bastard to quote him). Regardless, I am thankful to have him in my life and love him a lot a lot a lot!

Tuesday, June 03, 2003

It is almost a slap in the face that the ad above my blog says "Rebuild Palestinian Homes, Liberty and Freedom from Occupation. Help to rebuild demolished homes."

Liberty and Freedom from Occupation?!!??!? I want liberty and freedom from TERRORISM. From suicide bombings. From attacks on civilians. From murdering of children. From the killing of pregnant women and their husbands.

(I promise to branch out to more than just Israel...expect stuff on the horror in Congo and other places...)

I was told that there is a lot of beauty in this world. I am searching for it. So far all I have found is that I have the world's most loving parents, and a few friends that despite my caution, I am so blessed to have found them.

Some important stuff regarding Israel that was said in the news today:

From the Associated Press"Sharon will issue a statement accepting the principle of a Palestinian state, an Israeli official said. Abbas will recognize Israel's right to exist side by side with a Palestinian state, Palestinian officials said. Powell said that in any agreement, Israel "must always be seen as a Jewish state." "

Why? Why do we have to do this? They released a man who was connected to the death of 17 Israelis. They let out a murderer! One that went directly to Yassir Arafat to receive a welcome home greeting from that pigeon faced terrorist piece of shit. Wow, I don't know where that came from...I will try and control the profanity.

Monday, June 02, 2003

Genentech made the front page today in the San Jose Mercury News . I should have bought stock after they made their first announcement. The headline reads "Cancer drug shows promise" and underneath, "Colon tumoor patients given genentech product live longer". I love this company!

Sunday, June 01, 2003

The Comment link is working! Please respond to specific entries if something sparks your interest. I really hope that I can get some feedback from my very few readers. I want to know what you like, what you don't like, etc... Thanks!

To Laura, Amo, Julia, Faraaz, and Marine...if you read the following entry, please do not take it personally...I was extremely pissed when I wrote it and needed to vent out my frustrations. I love you guys and hope you know that no matter what you go through that I love you and will be there if you need me to help you out.

I am giving up on this whole friends idea. Sounds depressing, but I don't think I can trust anyone. I keep learning this lesson over and over and I don't seem to learn. First of all, people aren't nearly as forgiving or understanding as they will claim to be initially. They say they "understand" you, but then proceed to judge you at every turn. I am not trying to claim that I am innocent of this, because I don't think I am, but I do know that the people that I consider my close friends, would have to push me very hard to get me turn on them. I am not sure the reverse is true.

I think a true friend should be able to understand if you act freaky from time to time, even if it hurts them. A true friend can acknowledge that not always does a person's weird mood or actions have anything to do with the friend and should be accepting that people go through things. I am amazed how many people will claim that they are good friends and not understand this whole concept. I know that people's egos are involved and it makes it more difficult.

In any case, again I have proved that there are only three people that I know will be there for me through thick and thin. As much as I hope that my close friends will support me through any troubles I have, I am learning again and again that this is not true. I hope my close friends don't take this as an insult because even as I think about it now, it is hard to convince myself that this is true.

WELCOME to my blog! I recently graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor's of Science
in Bioengineering. I am so excited about starting a new chapter of my life. I am off to travel for a while and then settle down
for an indefinite amount of time in Erez Israel. I will be in New Zealand for 2 months (jan-mar) and then should hopefully arrive in
Israel in time for Pesach (Passover).

Things I like to write about:

I write about all kinds of things but mostly about how I see and view the events that happen around me
and around the world. Some topics of interest are: Israel, biology, health, Judaism, Berkeley insanity, and the general insanity around the world. Obviously, everything here is my opinion.
I write about events the way I see them, through my eyes. During my traveling, I hope to update about the things I see. I love to explore the world and meet people and see different things.
So enjoy!